


Six Degrees of Separation

by Miss_Nihilist



Series: Author Recommendations [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Electrocution, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Love Triangles, Moving On, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Break Up, Teen Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-20 09:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14891831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nihilist/pseuds/Miss_Nihilist
Summary: Valerie Gray was not one for doubt and regret, but that was before she fell in love — and then, promptly and without a second thought, threw it away.She wasn't looking for them to get back together or even to automatically be friends again. But maybe, just maybe, Valerie could get a second chance at being a decent person. For Danny, for herself, and for all the mistakes she had made.





	1. Step 1: Desperation

_She took a deep breath. This was something she had been putting off for a while now, but she couldn't justify putting it off anymore. This was for his own good — she was protecting him. "Danny, I've had a lot of fun these last few days, but my life's way too complicated right now for us to be anything other than... friends." She looked away, hoping that he wouldn't see the guilt in her eyes._

_It was better this way, for both of them. Regardless, even without looking, she could picture the hurt on his face as he spoke. "Just friends…?"_

Valerie shot up in bed, breathing hard and coated in a light sheen of sweat. She grimaced, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and glancing blearily at the clock. 3:24 in the morning. _Again_. Great.

She sighed, laying back down slowly to avoid another rush of vertigo. This was the third night in a row that she had woken up from that dream. She could never remember specific details, but she knew exactly what it was about. Three nights ago, she had broken Danny's heart as well as her own, and her subconscious refused to let her forget it. It was starting to get annoying.

Girls like Star and Paulina needed a boyfriend to feel secure in themselves. That was why Paulina was "dating" Dash despite being in love with Phantom ( _Valerie shuddered at the thought_ ), and why Star had been desperate enough to date Foley at one time. But Valerie wasn't a girl  _like them_. At the height of her popularity, maybe, but she had learned that she didn't need a boyfriend to be happy. She understood that perfectly.  _But, then, why was every recent dream about Danny Fenton_?

With a groan, Valerie rolled over and shoved her face into her pillow, as sticky with sweat as the rest of her bed was. She had broken up with Danny to focus on ghost hunting, but now it seemed like he was on her mind more than ever. It was so frustrating. They had barely dated for a week and he wasn't even _that_ great!

Sure, maybe  _some_ girls liked the loveable dork act, but Valerie sure didn't. She didn't like tall, lithe guys, and certainly not guys with dark, constantly windswept hair that hung in front of his ethereal blue eyes just begging for her to push it away, and…

Against her pillow, Valerie felt her face go red as she quickly clamped down on that train of thought. Being stubborn clearly wasn't helping. Maybe denying her feelings for Danny wasn't the right way. Accepting it was the easiest way to move on, right? She was pretty sure that she remembered Star yammering on about something to that effect from a magazine. That wasn't exactly  _encouraging_ , but Valerie supposed that she might as well try it.

It wasn't like she was in love or anything. Her feelings for Danny were only a small crush, and they would fade with time. Of that, she was certain. Satisfied, Valerie rolled over onto her side and tried to sleep. 

* * *

"Hey, Val?" There was a tap on her shoulder, and Valerie was pulled abruptly from her thoughts.

She turned, half-expecting to see Danny waiting for her, but she couldn't help but be disappointed when she saw Star instead. The feeling was quickly replaced by frustration as Valerie berated herself for even thinking that. Why would Danny be hanging around her? She had just broken up with him a few days ago. He still seemed kind of down about it too, nowhere near as energetic as he usually was when she passed him in the halls and they both desperately avoided eye-contact.

Star raised an eyebrow, looking Valerie up and down before her nose crinkled in distaste. "Okay," she said shortly, "I thought that it was a blessing when you stopped talking non-stop about Fenton, but you look awful." Valerie didn't try to argue with that. She hadn't brushed her hair that morning, applied any makeup, or even bothered to smooth over her wrinkled shirt, which she had slept in. The bags under her eyes were more like bruises at that point. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or do I need to pry it from you?" Despite the light-hearted tone, there was a touch of concern to Star's voice that made Valerie smile.

"I'm fine," Valerie said dismissively. She turned back to her locker, gathering books without reading the titles just to look like she knew what she was doing. "Don't worry about me, Star, I just…" she sighed, "I really liked Danny, but my life's way too busy for a boyfriend. I thought it would be easier to let him down gently than try to keep pushing it. That's all." She shut her locker, giving her full attention to a very unimpressed looking Star. "I promise, alright? You're my best friend. I would tell you if something was wrong."

That made Star's expression soften. Valerie held back a wave of guilt. Once upon a time, that might have been true, but lately, there was hardly an aspect of Valerie's life that she _hadn't_ lied about at one point or another.

"Alright," Star sighed after a moment. "But if Fenton did anything to hurt you, Dash isn't going to be the only blonde in this school kicking his ass." Even though Star was threatening violence against the guy Valerie liked, the promise made her smile. At least Star wasn't as fake as Paulina was…

"Thanks. That means a lot, Star," Valerie replied honestly. She gave her friend a quick, one-armed hug, and pulled back. "I'm gonna head to class, but I'll see you around," she promised.

Star nodded, waving as Valerie walked off before her attention was caught by Kwan. She quickly hurried over to her boyfriend, and Valerie grimaced as she watched them over her shoulder. She was happy for Star, of course. It seemed like Kwan really was good for her and he was a nice guy, if a little easily-manipulated. She just wished that the sight of a happy couple didn't make her stomach twist unpleasantly.

Valerie turned to head towards her first period class, looking too late as she ran directly into someone. Surprised, she hit the ground, and the meaningless books that she had gathered went flying. She opened her mouth to start yelling at who she had rammed into, only for the words to catch in her throat.

Looking just as surprised as she was, Danny blinked down at her, as if not understanding what he was seeing. He looked out of breath, but Valerie had no idea what he could have been running from. For that matter, she didn't understand why he looked unfazed by her slamming into him. Danny Fenton was not the strongest kid in the school (or even in the hallway, for that matter), but it felt like whatever Valerie had hit was built like a brick wall. That was probably going to leave her sore in the morning.

Finally, Danny seemed to piece everything together. Realization dawned on his face, and he crouched down to Valerie's level, apologetic and worried. "Are you alright?" He asked, refraining from touching her even as his eyes traced any visible skin for signs of a bruise. To do something with his hands, he quickly gathered up her books and papers. "Sorry, Val. I was, um… running from Dash, and I wasn't looking to see where I was going," he explained.

Dazed, Valerie only nodded. Running from Dash made sense. Of course it did. Danny was always running  _somewhere_.

He took Valerie's hand in his, putting the other on her shoulder as he helped her stand. With a grimace, Valerie winced, rubbing the tender spot at the base of her spine. "Ouch," she managed a strained laugh, taking her books back from him. "That's going to hurt tomorrow."

She meant for it to be a joke but, to her surprise, Danny looked stricken. Before Valerie could say anything to comfort him, the bell rang, jerking her from her ponderings. The sound seemed to snap Danny back to normal, and he gave a polite smile that made Valerie's stomach clench. That was the smile he always used when he was trying not to be rude to people he didn't know very well. He hadn't used  _that_ smile towards her in a long, long time.

"Well, I need to get to first period," Danny said, pointing down the hall opposite of where Valerie was going. "I can't wait to see the look on Lancer's face when I'm actually on time for once." The joke got Valerie to smile, but it quickly fell when Danny turned to start down the hall.

"Danny, wait!" Before she could use her better judgment, Valerie had reached out, grabbing the hem of Danny's shirt to keep him from running off. Her face burned as Danny turned to look at her, one eyebrow arched questioningly. Valerie refused to make eye contact, choosing instead to look to the left at the bank of lockers. Despite the obvious embarrassment, her grip on his shirt only seemed to tighten. "...can we hang out sometime?" She asked, far meeker than she would have liked. "We— we did agree to keep being friends, right?"

At first, Danny didn't answer. Valerie held her breath, almost afraid that he would, and then Danny gave a faint laugh. "Sure, Valerie. I'm looking forward to it already." He reached to grab her hand, and for a fleeting second, Valerie thought that he was going to pull her closer. But Danny merely unwrapped her fingers from his shirt, letting the loose-fitting material fall back into place over the hem of his jeans. "Call me when you get off work, alright? We can head over to the bowling alley if you feel like losing another game to me."

Valerie only nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She was too stunned that he had agreed to be surprised that he had remembered her work schedule. Unlike it would normally, his jab at her poor bowling skills didn't get a rise out of Valerie, let alone even get her to blink. "Sure," she managed. "I'll, um, call you then." She waved as Danny left, but his back was already to her as he took off running down the hall again.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Valerie was aware that the bell had rung. She was officially late for class, but she didn't care. It had barely been four days since she had broken things off with Danny, and Valerie was already starting to think that it was one of the biggest mistakes of her life.


	2. Step 2: Denial

It was rapidly becoming clear that hanging out with Danny was not a good decision on Valerie's part. 

She tried to tell herself that they were just friends, and while that was technically true, it wasn't helping to keep her heart from pounding or preventing her eyes from trailing over Danny's form every time he went up for his turn. Sure, bowling wasn't the most "physically demanding" sport, but she couldn't help but appreciate his body and the calm power he used to land either a strike or a spare every turn. His shirt kept slipping up every time to released the ball — just enough for Valerie to get a teasing flash of bare skin and the tensed muscles of his back. When had he gone from being a scrawny nerd to actually having muscle tone?

Had she not been enjoying watching him, she might have resented losing so easily. But that was the problem, wasn't it? Valerie wasn't supposed to be enjoying it.

Her thoughts went to Phantom and she had to fight the urge to grimace. He was a menace, no matter what the rest of the town seemed to think. If he or any other ghosts knew about Valerie's feelings for Danny, he could be in danger. Friends were okay. She hardly saw her friends anyway, and as her conversation with Star had indicated, she was barely close to any of them. But a boyfriend? That was too far. It was a risk that she couldn't afford. 

Valerie knew that she wasn't very good at keeping her emotions in check. She was quick to anger and never hesitated to lash out with it. Before Danny, she had never crushed hard on a guy before. He was making it obvious that Valerie was terrible at hiding her romantic interests. She was practically ogling him.  _Ogling!_ What kind of teenage girl ogled someone? And was she  _drooling_ and  _starry-eyed_? It was like she didn't have any shame. A silly teenage crush wouldn't have been so bad if Valerie was normal, but if any of her enemies caught her looking at Danny like that… Manson wasn't even half as bad as Valerie was, and it had been obvious within two minutes of watching the two talk that she had feelings for Danny.

Conversation remained light and unchallenging — and, perhaps just the tiniest bit stilted. By the time they were done bowling (Danny had beaten her three rounds straight, with a total of 509 points more than her), Valerie was practically fuming. She wasn't mad at Danny, of course. He was rambling on about an incident involving his dad, the Fenton Weasel, and a whole gallon of glue, which Valerie was doing her best to pay attention to. She laughed when he did, and Danny didn't seem to notice that her thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

Thank God that Danny wasn't perfect — he was denser than a black hole. 

No, Valerie was upset with herself. She was supposed to be better than this and yet, she was giving in to the illogical desire to be around Danny. Illogical, because all it did was hurt them both. It put Danny in unnecessary danger and it only made it harder for Valerie to accept that things just couldn't work out between them.

She couldn't blame Sam for always being so mad at her. If Valerie was in her shoes, she knew that she would despise whoever was leading her best friend on. It was unnecessarily cruel. And it had to stop.

Danny's story ended with a laugh, but Valerie couldn't muster up more than a smile. Silence settled between them as they walked. It felt awkward, but every time she glanced at Danny, he looked perfectly calm and at peace. She wasn't sure if it was worse or better that she was the only one feeling the tension in the air between them.

It was too much. Valerie sighed and stopped walking. Confused, Danny did the same. It was getting late, and they were on the sidewalk alone. A few cars passed by, but other than that, no one else was around. This probably wasn't the best place to talk about it, but Valerie knew from experience that if she put it off for a day, one day would become one week and then one month, and then she would never get around to doing it. And all the while, selfishly keeping him close. _Like a parasite_. 

"Look, Danny… today has been really fun, but I think that I was wrong." He frowned, eyes blank, and Valerie had to fight not to look away. She needed to seem certain about this, even if it pained her to continue. "We can't be friends. I think that we need as much space between each other as possible."

Several emotions flickered across Danny's face. Surprise, confusion, worry and concern, self-consciousness, and then his delicate features finally settled on one: _sorrow_. "Oh," he said quietly. Danny suddenly became very interested in his shoes. "I mean… if that's what you want, then of course, Valerie. We can, um, stop hanging out if you want." He was trying to sound understanding, but the look in his eyes betrayed how Danny really felt.

Valerie felt awful for it. She knew that teenage boys weren't the best at opening up and discussing their feelings, but Danny didn't need to pour his heart out for her to know that he wasn't as okay with this as he was trying to pretend to be. He looked like she had ripped his heart out all over again.

She was still trying to figure out what to say when, abruptly, Danny shivered.

Immediately, his face paled with shock and thinly-veiled horror. Valerie arched an eyebrow. "Danny? Are you okay? It's, like, 70 degrees out." She put a hand on his shoulder, only for Danny to jerk away.

"I, um… I need to go," Danny said quickly, shifting anxiously in place with pent-up energy. "This was a good talk, Valerie. I'll do my best to leave you alone from now on. See you around!" He waved at her, eyes watching the skyline even as he sharply turned on his heel and took off running back in the direction of the bowling alley.

Stunned, Valerie didn't follow what had happened until Danny already had a head start of about five seconds.  _Why was he always running off somewhere?_  "Danny!" Valerie ran after him. She wasn't sure why, just that she was suddenly desperate not to let their conversation end like that. He was fast though, easily outrunning Valerie. Really, it was impressive. She spent her free time training her body and hunting ghosts, whereas he had barely passed the President's Physical Fitness Test the other day. It was absurd that he could be faster than her, and yet, there she was, eating his dust.

Danny made a sharp turn into an alley and, panting, Valerie barely managed to do the same six seconds after him. To her confusion, though, the alley was empty. It was little more than a crack between two buildings that was hardly big enough for two people to stand in shoulder-to-shoulder. Even though it was getting dark, the end of the alley was still easy to see and there was nothing to obstruct Valerie's view. The alley was completely and utterly empty. Danny had disappeared.

Her confusion was so overwhelming that Valerie barely noticed the beeping in the back of her mind. She was still getting used to her new ghost fighting suit and it took a moment to register that the beeping was her ecto alarm.

She almost reached for a button, and then sighed. Of course, all she had to do was think about it, and a visor slipped over her eyes so that she could see the alarm displayed on a screen. 0.76 miles to the south, power level 6.9 out of 10… Valerie's eyes narrowed. 

 _Phantom_. Her alarm was set to go off every time it sensed Phantom's ecto signature within ten miles of her. He was far too close for the alarm to have only _just_ gone off. Where did he always appear from?

Hesitant, Valerie shot one last look at the empty alley over her shoulder. She was choosing ghost hunting over Danny. Again. Was it the right choice? For the first time since taking up ghost hunting, she wasn't entirely sure in her answer.

Valerie shook the thought from her mind, concentrating for a moment and feeling her new suit slide over her body like a second skin. It practically was. Drawing her feet together, she jumped into the air, her hoverboard deploying underneath to catch her. She landed on it gracefully, no sound but the whir of the motors as it started up.

It took a moment to get coordinates on Phantom's location, but once the homing signal was locked, Valerie took off without a second glance back. 

She had made her choice almost a week ago, and now she had to stick to it — no matter what.


	3. Step 3: Realization

Everyone in their school had noticed how Danny always seemed to disappear at the most convenient times. Even those who didn't see Danny as worth their notice had caught on. It was something of a running joke among the student body. Danny would enter the boy's bathroom and then walk out of the janitor's closet without having ever left the bathroom in the first place. Most people wrote it off as just another freaky thing about Danny to go with everything else unusual about him. With parents like his, a little oddness was to be expected. Teleportation was a minor triviality to his already puzzling existence. Valerie had never given it much thought before, but after being alerted to Phantom the second that Danny was out of sight...

Well, it didn't matter. She was certain that it was just a coincidence. What possible connection could the most powerful and elusive ghost in Amity Park have with the cowardly son of two ghost hunters? Valerie didn't like to think of Danny poorly, but everyone knew that he was terrified of ghosts. Every time one attacked the high school, he was the first person out the door. It was yet another good reason to not tell him about her ghost hunting and to keep him as far away from it as possible. She didn't want to see Danny as terrified of her as he was of the town's ghosts.

Valerie leaned forward just an inch, subtly encouraging her hoverboard to go faster. She was amazed at how smooth it was, cutting through the air like it was paper. Within four seconds, she was close enough to hear ecto blasts being fired from the battle, and within another two, she had to slow down to avoid hitting the building where Phantom's readings were coming from.

Carefully, she deactivated her board, dropping to the ground with only the faintest sound of her feet hitting the concrete. In the past, she would always charge in guns blazing after Phantom. Shoot first and ask questions never. Obviously, that wasn't working. Knowing how close he was made her blood boil, but Valerie forced herself to keep a level head and stay hidden. If she could get the element of surprise, there was no reason that she couldn't easily subdue him.

It only took a thought, and Valerie found her fingers curling around the heavy handle of an ectogun. She smirked faintly to herself. Sure, Phantom may have beaten her when they fought in space but she had been practicing with her suit, and she had the advantage this time.

The building was short and square and, if the large hole in the side of the wall was any indication, Phantom and whatever ghost he was fighting hadn't meant to be trespassing in it. Luckily, it looked abandoned, which meant that hopefully, no civilians would be in the way. Valerie crouched lower, positioning herself by the hole before peering inside.

Instantly, the ghost Phantom was fighting became clear, and Valerie shuddered. She knew his name — Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. He had kidnapped her and Phantom, locking them together in the Ghost Zone for his own amusement. Sure, she had obviously escaped, but the memory still left her uneasy. It was only by luck that they had managed to win against him, though Phantom certainly seemed to have gotten better at dodging since then. Almost without her notice, Valerie's suit began recording the fight for future study.

Skulker lashed out with a shining blade coated with a thin layer of glowing green residue. Phantom was uncharacteristically silent, not even trying to mock Skulker as he jumped back just in time to miss taking the sword through his chest. He brought his hands up, ectoplasmic energy tingling at his fingertips before he released it, hitting Skulker in the chest with a blast that made him reel back.

"Upset that I interrupted your date, whelp?" Skulker jeered, a smirk on his face. "You really should learn to control your emotions, ghost child. It only makes you that much easier to beat." He went to jab through Phantom's chest, and when he dodged to the side, Skulker took the opening to slash the front of his suit with his blade.

Phantom winced, putting distance between them to try and take a look at the wound. It was long, but not very deep. Ectoplasm oozed over the frayed edges of his jumpsuit even as the torn skin began knitting itself back together.

Unhindered, Phantom turned his burning gaze back to Skulker. Valerie was caught off guard. Whenever they fought, Phantom looked either scared or playful. She had never seen his green eyes lit up with anger and frustration like that before. "It wasn't a date," Phantom snapped. "Maybe you should think less about my ruined love life and focus more on your nonexistent one. There's a cat shelter around here if you need help licking your wounds every time I kick your sorry tin can butt right back into the Ghost Zone." Despite the teasing words, Phantom sounded anything but amused.

The talking ended there, and Valerie watched as the two made the cramped space into a battleground. It looked like it had been a factory once, but it didn't take long for the conveyor belts to be blown apart, and the walls to end up with smoking holes in them. The longer the fight went on, the more frustrated Phantom became. His fighting form had always reminded Valerie of basic karate, but any stance that he had had at the beginning quickly dissolved as his attacks grew sporadic.

For a few minutes, the battle had been evenly matched. Phantom was obviously distracted, and Skulker knew how to handle him at every step. Even though Valerie despised ghosts, she still found herself enraptured by the fight. Ghosts made everything so effortless, and they made wielding so much power look simple. They were ( _she begrudgingly admitted_ ) beautiful, in a horrifyingly awful way.

As Phantom became more unpredictable, Valerie noticed that Skulker was losing ground. It was hard to tell, seeing as how they were tossing each other around the building and ramming into everything solid, but the flickers of surprise and unease on Skulker's face became more pronounced as they continued. Phantom's glare never lessened, and his fists began to glow with ectoplasmic energy as he brought them in contact with Skulker's armor. The metal dented under his blows, and before Skulker could try a counter-attack, Phantom twisted effortlessly in the air and his foot caught the side of the hunter's head. In a split second, the place where his head met his neck was left wide open, and Skulker's head went flying across the room.

Valerie winced at the sound of the metal head cracking against the wall. She was sharply reminded of how viciously Phantom had destroyed her old battle suit just the other day, but she did her best not to dwell on it. Now that one of her targets had been eliminated, Valerie readied her ectogun and crept forward, into the factory.

Sagging with relief, Phantom lowered himself to the ground with surprising gentleness. He picked up Skulker's head, reaching into it with one hand and prying a small green ghost from the neck. It looked more like a blob than the ghosts Valerie was used to, and she grimaced at the pathetic form.

"Fear me!" It shouted, shaking a fist at Phantom even as the teen ghost held him upside down by the ankle in a properly humiliating position. "I am the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! I am  _Skulker_! I demand that you release me!"

It struggled, but Phantom merely sighed. He unclipped the Fenton Thermos from his hip, holding it under the little ghost. "I will," Phantom promised. He clicked the button on the side of the Thermos, and a flash of bright light later, what was left of Skulker disappeared into the confines of the Thermos. "I'll "release you" back into the Ghost Zone where you belong." He set the Thermos back at his hip.

And just as Phantom went to take off, Valerie brought her weapon up and fired.

To her surprise, the weapon didn't shoot a blast of ecto energy. Instead, a net that crackled with energy flew across the room. Phantom turned just in time to take the hit head-on, and Valerie felt pride curl in her gut at the look of horror that flitted across his face seconds before the net hit him.

She kept the gun pressed to her side, running over to where the ghost had landed in a heap on the ground. Fascinated, Valerie watched as Phantom turned invisible, only for the net to light up and shock him. A surprisingly human scream was ripped from his throat, and he went limp, panting. Valerie made a mental note to check all of the weapons that her suit had at a later date. She was tired of getting surprised. Knowing her own arsenal was the first step to success.

Although, capturing Phantom was a pretty good substitute.

Recognition ran through his eyes as he looked up at her, and Valerie smirked in satisfaction. He remembered her, then. Good. "That net is going to electrocute you every time you try to use your ghost powers to get out. If you're smart, you won't try it again," she stated, unaffected by the realistic expression of pain on Phantom's face.

That was something about him that she fully intended to exploit. He was very good at mimicking human reactions, to the point that it was  _almost_  like he had convinced himself into actually feeling pain. Of course, ghosts couldn't feel pain, but that didn't mean that Valerie wouldn't use the threat of it against him. At the very least, he didn't attempt to phase through the net again.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Phantom groaned. He looked much less powerful when he was cramped and caught in a net. His statement came across as that of a petulant child rather than a malevolent specter that could easily kill Valerie if he wanted to. "I have enough to deal with without you stalking me. Can't you find another ghost to bother?"

Valerie felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. The anger in his eyes was gone, replaced with only mild frustration. It drove Valerie up the wall. Why didn't he ever take her seriously? He only ever saw her as a chore, never as a real threat.

Vindictively, Valerie only had to think about it and the net holding Phantom lit up like a Christmas tree as it unloaded electricity into his body. For ghosts, electricity made their forms become unstable. She had never studied the elements that created ectoplasm, but something about it amplified the effects of electricity. Valerie didn't need to study it to know that it worked.

She let the current cut off, and Phantom slumped to the ground on his side. He twitched and spasmed in the net, and Valerie's face twisted in disgust. "Stop acting so human," she snapped. "You're not fooling anyone, ghost! Least of all, me!"

The net made everything so convenient. Valerie barely even reacted as she activated it once more.

Most people didn't know a lot about how shocking someone worked, but Valerie had looked into it after noticing how susceptible ghosts were to its effects. Shock intensity came from the amount of current forced through the body. For currents as low as 20 milliamps, breathing would become labored and cease completely even at values below 75 milliamps. That wasn't a lot. She was edging Phantom at 63 milliamps now, and Valerie barely thought twice before she increased the intensity.

As the current approached 100 milliamps, the heart's ventricles would start to spasm uncontrollably, resulting in death. When Valerie edged Phantom near it, his screaming grew more intense. Despite herself, Valerie winced. He was so good at faking that pain. He was shaking and thrashing like it was all he could do to not fall apart from the agony.

Between 100 and 200 milliamps, the heart would stop beating.

Valerie wasn't sure what she was expecting, but as she pushed the intensity, Phantom abruptly stopped screaming and collapsed. His form should have started falling apart a while ago, like the weaker ghosts she had used this on, but he seemed just as solid as ever when she cut the electric current entirely.

Hesitantly, she knelt next to his body. Oddly enough, his chest was moving, as if he was breathing, and his body continued to twitch.  _Unbelievable_. Even if he liked to pretend that he was human, there was no reason for Phantom to mimic human behavior when he was unconscious.

She reached to touch him (why, Valerie wasn't sure) only to just as quickly yank her hand back. A bright ring of light had appeared around Phantom's waist. It spread up and over his body and Valerie brought a hand up to shield her eyes from the glow. It should have been impossible for him to do that. Phantom was weak and unconscious. Everything that Valerie knew about ghosts was screaming that this was  _unnatural_. The sizzling sound of plasma greeted her ears and when the light faded, Valerie was quick to drop her hand and get a good look.

At first, she didn't quite understand what she was looking at. The seconds ticked by, but she didn't move. Five seconds, six, seven, eight… She only stared. Her mind stuttered to a halt and all Valerie could think about was  _why Phantom looked so much like Danny_.


	4. Step 4: Pretend

It made a lot of sense. It made a  _frightening_ amount of sense. Danny Phantom was Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom. Danny and Phantom.

 _Holy shit_.

If Valerie wasn't on the verge of curling into the fetal position and staying like that for a few days, she might have laughed. It was  _so obvious_. They say that hindsight is 20-20, but it shouldn't have taken so long for her to figure it out in the first place. It was crystal clear from the very beginning, but Danny had done such a good job at making people do the secret-keeping for him.

He didn't even try to keep it a secret. He disappeared from places with no exits and appeared in areas where no one had seen him arrive. His name wasn't even clever — he had made his superhero name a  _pun_. It couldn't have been more obvious if someone had put up a gleaming billboard with the words " _DANNY FENTON IS DANNY PHANTOM_."

Danny had kept it a secret by being as normal as possible. People expected him to be a freak so he was, and the expectedness helped him fade into a completely different kind of invisibility from what his ghost half employed. No one would expect anything remarkable from scared, wimpy Danny Fenton. He was the complete opposite of Danny Phantom. The white hair, glowing green eyes, and echoing voice helped disguise him physically, but no one who wasn't looking for it would put two and two together. And no one with any semblance of sanity would try to connect the self-proclaimed hero of Amity Park with an unremarkable high schooler who could barely pass gym and struggled to maintain a C average.

Valerie was included in all of that, of course. She had spent plenty of time with Fenton and Phantom both, but she had never seen the connection because she had never  _wanted_ to see it.

And now he had been forced to pay for her mistake.

She still hadn't completely recovered from her shock, but Valerie was thinking well enough to know that being electrocuted was typically not recommended for humans. Frantic, she scrambled to find his pulse. Her fingers pressed against the underside of his jaw, and Valerie frowned.

At first, she didn't feel anything, but then there was a faint thump. Was his pulse supposed to be so faint and slow? His breathing seemed to match it, but that raised more questions than answers. She felt a cold weight settle in her stomach. What if he wasn't even alive? Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom, yes, but what if he hadn't actually  _survived_ the Accident? The idea of Danny's ghost possessing his own corpse made her gag.

Faint heartbeat or not, it was still there and that was good enough for the time being. Luckily, Danny didn't have a lot of injuries. His hair and fingertips were smoking at the edges and he felt hot to the touch but other than that, Valerie was surprised by how  _normal_ his symptoms read.

And then she sat back and realized that Danny was  _glowing_.

Through her panic, the red-tinted visor over her eyes, and the evening light streaming through the holes in the walls and ceiling, she must have missed it at first glance. But Danny's skin was glowing a sickly shade of green and he was giving off enough light that she would still be able to see him if they had been in a completely dark room.

 _Unbelievable_. For anyone else, it would be impossible, but the ectoplasm in his blood was converting the electricity she had pumped into him into energy and letting it out in the form of light. Valerie figured that it helped that she was no longer shocking him. His body could recuperate and get rid of the energy safely. That was good. It meant that she had some time before he woke up.

Valerie slipped her helmet off, letting her hair fall around her face and across her back. Normally, she enjoyed freeing her hair after a hard day of ghost fighting, but all she could feel was the cold weight in her gut. She bent down to pick Danny up, surprised and concerned by how light he was. How had she never noticed before? He couldn't weigh more than 100 pounds, but Danny didn't look underfed in the slightest.

She set him down propped up against the wall, choosing to ignore how his skin sizzled at her touch. If he wasn't hurt, then she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She took a seat against the wall next to him, closing her eyes and intending to rest while he healed. And that was when the thought struck her.

He had known that she was the Red Huntress  _the whole time_.

Danny had known at least since the incident with the Ghost King when he revealed her secret identity to her dad. She was going to kick his ass later for  _that_ , but her train of thought had already moved on. While they had been "dating," he had known that she was hunting him. The whole time, he had known what he was risking by getting close to her. He was risking his own safety as well as the secret that he had worked so hard to keep. And yet, despite that, he had chosen  _her_. Danny had chosen to accept the consequences because he wanted to be with her, and she had ruined it. She had ripped out both of their hearts, and for what? In the end, she hadn't protected him at all.

Blankly, Valerie watched the minutes tick by from the clock displayed in the corner of her vision. She idly used her thoughts to make it bigger or smaller and drag it around, almost like she was just messing with something on a computer screen. It was so bizarre and she might have been freaked out by it if she was capable of processing anything else. She felt cold and empty.

It seemed to take years and no time at all for Danny to open his eyes. He groaned, shifting, and Valerie thought " _finally_ ," immediately followed by, " _I need more time to be ready for this conversation_."

To Danny's credit, he didn't seem upset or even that surprised. He looked over at Valerie, taking in her position against the wall and the helmet she had tucked under one arm. He surveyed his own body, prodding his chest and giving a wince. Valerie had to close her eyes. Right. He had already been injured from his fight with Skulker and she had made it worse. Danny glanced down at his gloveless human hands and then, sitting up, he sighed.

"I, um… I don't suppose that there's any way I could convince you that this was just a dream, is there?" Danny asked weakly. There was a forced smile on his face, but it quickly fell away when matched with Valerie's glare. "Yeah… figured that would be asking too much," He muttered.

Valerie clenched her jaw with frustration and lugged her helmet at him. She missed by a good five feet and her helmet clattered to the ground, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass as the visor cracked against the cement and it disappeared. It would be back the next time she equipped her suit, brand new as usual. "You had better start explaining this, Fenton," Valerie threatened. "And I mean  _right_   _now_. I've been hunting Phantom for  _months_ and you  _never said anything_? There had better be an  _amazing_ reason for this."

Danny frowned, giving her a look of frustration. "What was I supposed to do?" He asked irritably, crossing his arms. "You hated me for a while there, and I didn't want to ruin things right as we were starting to get close." He pointed out.

At the memory of how "close" they were, Valerie internally winced. "So keeping secrets was better?" She shot back anyway. It wasn't helping anything to yell, but Valerie was so  _frustrated_. There had been countless times when she had almost hurt him, and far too many where she had succeeded. All it took was one well-placed shot, and then… She refused to think about it.

"Me? Keeping secrets?" He snorted. "I didn't see you coming clean about being the Red Huntress. Actually, if I remember correctly,  _you_ cut things off between us over it. Not me."

The worst thing was that he was right.

 _Of course_ , Danny was right. Valerie had ruined things. She was the one who had chosen not to forgive him, time after time. Danny had never even seriously fought her back. He tried to be as defensive as possible while she shot everything she had at him. It wasn't  _just_ her fault, but there was certainly a large chunk of the blame on her shoulders that she didn't want to acknowledge.

She huffed and rolled her eyes, turning away from him. "Whatever, ghost boy," she muttered. "Are you going to blame me over something I can't undo, or are you going to tell me how  _this_ happened?" Emotions could come later. For now, Valerie kept them subdued and focused on what she had wanted this entire time — answers.

For a moment, Danny said nothing. It seemed like he wasn't going to answer at all, but then she heard him shift and let out a sigh. "It was a lab accident," he admitted, quieter than Valerie had expected. She turned just enough to see him out of the corner of her eye, a frown on her face as she noticed the curled up way he was sitting and the way he wouldn't look anywhere but at the ground. "My mom and dad had just finished the ghost portal, but it wouldn't turn on. They were devastated. Wouldn't even go into the lab. That's, um— that's how I managed to sneak Tucker and Sam down for a look. She always liked that occult stuff, y'know? And Tucker pretended not to be interested, but I think that he secretly wanted a look, too. Mom and dad were always so secretive about their blueprints and the progress." He didn't continue, and silence stretched between them.

Valerie licked her dry lips, and then found the courage to speak up. "Look, Danny. You don't have to—"

"It's fine," he interrupted her stiffly. "It's time that I told someone, anyway. I've never talked about it before." Despite his words, he didn't continue immediately. This time, Valerie didn't say anything. She let him take his time and, after a moment, he continued. "It was Sam's idea to go into the portal. But I guess it's mostly my fault for agreeing. You would think that the son of two scientists would know better than to mess around with dangerous inventions, but I didn't think it was working. I was just messing around, you know? I even put on a jumpsuit my dad made for me and let Sam add that logo." He tapped his chest absentmindedly. "The "D" insignia. Didn't stop people from calling me "Inviso-Bill," but it was a nice thought." He chuckled weakly. "I can't believe you had a vendetta against a ghost named  _Inviso-Bill_. That's almost as bad as the fact that Paulina plastered her locker with the name."

It was supposed to be a joke, but Valerie didn't smile. Seeing the severity on her face, Danny's weak smile dropped, and he looked away again.

Unlike before, he didn't take a long time to continue. "It… hurt," Danny muttered. "It felt like I was dying, and I guess that I kind of did. I took the full blast of the portal activating and when I woke up, I was sinking through my hospital bed. Sam and Tucker filled me in on the pallet swap later, and…" he shrugged, "you know the rest. I got better with my powers and started helping people. Trying to, anyway. I couldn't help everyone." Danny shot her a knowing look, and Valerie promptly avoided looking at him.

"You're okay, right?" Valerie asked. It was blatantly obvious that she was just changing the subject but, thankfully, Danny let her do it.

He nodded, standing up. His glow had lessened a lot to only the faintest shine in the rapidly darkening factory. How long had Valerie been sitting there for? She had watched the time pass, but she hadn't connected that with how late it was getting. "I've had worse. It doesn't even hurt now," Danny reassured her. And if Valerie noticed that he was lying through his teeth, she chose not to acknowledge it. "I'm gonna head home. You should, too. Your dad's probably worried about you."

Again, Danny was right. Her dad wanted her home before he started his shift at Axion labs so that he could at least give her a hug before he left. Thinking about it made something warm tighten in Valerie's chest, and she managed a nod. "Yeah," she agreed in a hollow voice, "I should probably go see him."

Neither of them made any effort to leave.

Valerie got to her feet, but that was as far as she got. She didn't want to leave Danny. She had already done that and look where it got her. He was obviously a little worse for wear, and it was all her fault. The electricity had been hurting him but she had kept it going until he passed out from the pain. His clothes looked singed on the edges and Danny was clearly exhausted.

Biting her lip nervously, Valerie forced herself to make eye contact with him. "Do you… want me to give you a ride home?" She asked quietly. "I— I don't mind."

There was surprise written across his face, but Danny was quick to shake his head. "No, thanks." He managed a smile that made her chest ache. "I was waiting for you to leave so that I could change into Phantom without freaking you out. I'm still good enough to fly and my house isn't that far, anyway," he explained.

She opened her mouth to argue, only to just as quickly shut it. He was being so considerate to someone who had tortured him and she wished that he would do  _anything_ else. Scream at her so that she could scream back, throw something so she could wrestle him to the ground, or start crying so that Valerie could stop holding back the lump in her throat.

"Okay," Valerie said quietly. She swallowed the apology on the tip of her tongue and turned her back to him. Her hoverboard came as easily as always, and she let herself be lifted into the air.

There, Valerie hesitated.

She was leaving him. Again. How many times had it been now? Too many, she knew, but what else was she supposed to do? She didn't know what to say or how he would react. All of this was too much to take in in one day.

And if there was a part of Valerie that wanted to turn around, clutch Danny and sob until she couldn't breathe, then she steadfastly ignored it. Instead, Valerie crushed her feelings as easily as she slammed her foot down on the accelerator, and she shot up into the sky with practiced ease. Her hair whipped around her face but she couldn't be bothered to tuck it away. She let it tangle in the wind and snap her in the face hard enough to leave a mark. It was nothing compared to what she had put Danny through, anyway.

But things would be okay. Both of them would be okay, even if she had to force it.


	5. Step 5: Futility

"Val?  _Val_? Valerie!" She was snapped from her distracted thoughts by someone yelling her name. Valerie turned away from her locker to look at Star, taking in the glare on her face and the thinly-veiled concern she had as she looked Valerie over. "What happened last night? You look awful." She remarked.

Shutting her locker, Valerie managed a dry smile. "Thanks, Star. You always know just what to say." There was teasing sarcasm in her voice, but Star only narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. Valerie didn't blame her. She didn't even remember dragging herself out of bed that morning, let alone arriving at school. It had been three days since she figured out Danny's secret and she still hadn't adjusted to the idea.

In the meantime, the nightmares had gotten worse. They were so vivid — horror stories where she strapped Danny down and cut into him, his ectoplasm mixed with blood soaking her body, his insides spread out over the observation table and one last plea of her name on his lips as he closed his eyes for the last time. They woke her up screaming and left a cold weight in her chest. They were bad enough that she had taken to moving to her dad's bed after she woke up at three in the morning, and he would put her back in her bed once he got home from the night shift.

It was obvious that her dad was worried. Everyone was. Star had been pestering her about her sleeping habits and Danny kept giving her concerned looks in the hallway, in class, in the cafeteria… But she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to make them stop. They only seemed to be getting worse.

Valerie started to walk off but was stopped but a hand on her arm. "Look," Star sighed, "does this have anything to do with Fenton?" At the accusation, Valerie looked away. It was only for a split second, but that was enough. Star's expression tightened. "Do you need me to claw his eyes out? I can get Dash to hang him from the flagpole by his boxers again if he hurt you."

Once upon a time, the idea might have made Valerie laugh. Now, it made her feel sick. "No, that's alright." She shook her head. "It's not about Fenton, anyway. It's… well, it's Phantom." Technically, that wasn't a lie. And technically, Star had been right when she had guessed it was Danny. They were both Danny. It still felt surreal.

At the mention of the ghost boy, Star's eyebrows shot up so high that they almost disappeared into her hairline. " _Phantom_?" She looked around, probably making sure that Paulina wasn't nearby before she continued speaking in a much quieter voice than before. "What happened, Val?"

It was well-known at their school that Valerie absolutely  _loathed_ Phantom. If she hadn't already been booted from the A-list months ago, then the constant clashing she had with Paulina about the ghost boy would have finished the job. Everyone in the school loved their town hero, but the only time Valerie ever spoke of him was to speak against him. Star wasn't one of the girls who swooned every time Phantom so much as glanced in their general direction, but she definitely looked interested and more than a little curious.

"He… well, the other day there was a ghost attack and Phantom— he kind of, well, saved me." That was half true. There had been a ghost attack, but Phantom hadn't gotten to do any saving before Valerie attacked him. "I don't know what to think, Star. Phantom isn't… he's not who I thought he was. How do I move past the way I used to see him? I can't just get over hatred like that." In any other situation, Valerie might have been embarrassed by how pathetic she sounded. But she was desperate.

Her hatred for Phantom had been the thing that kept her going. Through all of the setbacks and misfortunes, the single-minded obsession with Phantom had become almost comforting. It was sickening how badly she  _needed_ him.

Star hummed thoughtfully, shifting from foot to foot before letting out a sigh. "Val, maybe you don't need to hate him," she said. "You're always so distracted lately. I know your dad lost his job and your nice house, but you obsess over Phantom like that's going to fix things. Maybe you should obsess over a college scholarship. Or boys. Or your friends. We haven't hung out in months." Giving a sympathetic smile, Star put a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "You could even try again with Fenton. Maybe a relationship could be just what you need to forget about hating Phantom."

Her shoulders slumped tiredly, and Valerie nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "You're right, Star." A new obsession? It seemed inconceivable. It had only been Phantom for so  _long_ that Valerie was left grappling for something solid to hold to. It felt like she had been swept out to see. She wouldn't be asking Danny out any time soon, but Star was right. Focusing on something else would help.

"Of course I am," Star smirked to herself. She pulled Valerie into a quick hug before stepping back. "I'll see you in class, okay, Val? And you had better come to school tomorrow with fewer pounds of bags under your eyes."

Valerie managed a smile, waving at Star as she walked away. Okay. Find something new to focus on. She could do that. First, though, Valerie knew that Danny was owed an apology.

He never talked to her in the hallway and Tucker and Sam hadn't treated her any different, so she assumed that he had held off telling them. She wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but it would be good to have a talk without Sam and Tucker breathing down her neck. Valerie wasn't sure about Tucker's reaction, but Sam would definitely kill her for this.

She had been friends with him for long enough to know where Danny liked to hang out. It was before school, so she tucked her books against her chest and headed outside. The weather was nice enough to justify sitting at one of the many tables set out. The faint breeze caught Valerie's hair as she exited the school building and the heavy metal door shut behind her with a dull thud. A quick once-over turned up zero results, so Valerie turned and headed around the side of the building to the other tables.

Before she could turn the corner, Valerie stiffened and paused. It was relatively empty outside, so it was easy to hear the voices coming from around the corner. She pressed herself against the wall, staying out of sight. A tiny part of Valerie balked at the idea of eavesdropping, but she ignored it. This could be important.

"I don't want to hear the "I told you so," lecture, Sam," Danny spoke up, irritated. "She didn't know it was me at the time."

Even though Sam was out of sight, Valerie could perfectly picture the eye roll that must have accompanied her scoff. "Danny, that doesn't change the fact that she hurt you. You have scars from where she's shot at you! It doesn't matter if you're a ghost. I don't know why you keep defending someone who  _obviously_  has no problem inflicting pain onto people who don't deserve it!"

The accusations made her wince, but Valerie couldn't very well deny them. In a way, Sam was right. Valerie had  _hurt him_. Enough to leave scars, apparently. She remembered a month ago when she had been so proud of herself when she shot Phantom in the chest. The blow had left a hole pouring ectoplasm, and now, Valerie shuddered at the memory of how  _excited_ she had been. Not anymore. She felt sick.

There was familiarity with the way Danny and Sam went back and forth. It was obvious that they had had this conversation more than once. Valerie tried not to think about it.

"You know, Danny, Sam has a point," Tucker spoke up. "You had that almost-dating thing with Valerie, but maybe you should move past it. I don't think that dating someone who's tried to kill you several times is a smart relationship move."

Danny sighed. "Guys, I appreciate the concern but can we  _please_  talk about something other than my love life?" He asked, annoyed. "I only told you guys about this to get your advice on what I should do, not talk about the burning trainwreck that my relationship with her is."

"It's not about your love life, Danny!" Sam snapped. Tucker snorted, but she chose not to acknowledge him. "It's about your safety. And hanging out with a girl who's armed to the teeth with weapons made specifically to hurt you was stupid enough the first time! Now that she knows about— about your  _secret_ , we don't know what she could do. She could decide to keep hunting you, anyway. It's not that easy to let go of so much hate and if there's one person who can hold a grudge, it's Valerie."

There was a pause, and then the creak of the bench as Danny stood up. "We'll have to talk about this later," he said, though his tone implied that he would very much like to avoid the subject. "We've got company. I'll be right back, guys," he told them stiffly.

Valerie closed her eyes as there was a flash of bright light and, a moment later, the sensor that scanned for Phantom went off in the back of her mind. She quickly turned the alarm off, not making a move to interfere as he flew off. Danny had enough problems to deal with without her interrupting. She was going to head back inside, but a sigh made her pause.

"I'm worried about him, Tucker," Sam admitted. Surprised, Valerie didn't know how to react. She had never heard Sam so vulnerable before. "He keeps defending her. Do you think… even after all she's done to hurt him, does he really still have feelings for her?" She asked.

The idea made Valerie flush. Danny was so stubborn and too forgiving. She didn't deserve to have his feelings. The problem was that he was just the type of guy to give them to her regardless.

Tucker didn't answer at first. It sounded like he was eating, but Valerie wasn't sure what. Finally, he sighed. "Maybe," he acknowledged, "but I doubt it, Sam. Valerie is the puppy love, like when he stares at Paulina. You know he's too dense to know when he's got real feelings. That's why he's been crushing on you since the seventh grade and doesn't even know it himself," he explained.

The statement (while not exactly surprising) made Valerie stiffen. Of course, Tucker was right. Valerie had known for a long time that Danny and Sam had feelings for each other, as much as they liked to deny it. She thought of how she had caught them kissing in the bushes, or how they were glued at the hip, how Sam was always willing to help Danny fight despite the danger she was placing herself in.

But Valerie had thought that he was over that. While they were almost dating, she had assumed that he had moved on. Now, Valerie thought about how often Danny had brought up Sam on their dates. How he would end up cutting them short to go home and video chat with Sam and Tucker. The way all their dates had been planned to fit around when he would be hanging out with her. So many things revolved around Sam, and Danny himself didn't even realize how dependent he was on her presence in his life.

Her expression tightened. Even so, Sam and Tucker had no right to be judging Danny's love life the way they were. He was free to like whomever he chose. And, for whenever reason, he seemed to like Valerie, if his concern and understanding was any indication. She liked him, and he liked her back.

Wasn't it supposed to be that simple?


	6. Step 6: Acceptance

The plan was foolproof. Valerie was going to keep her feelings bottled up very tightly and then, one day, she would eventually die.

It seemed solid enough. Off the top of her head, Valerie couldn't think of a lot of things that could go wrong if she didn't do anything to get the attention of Danny or his friends. It even seemed to be  _working_. For the first few days, at any rate.

The nightmares stopped, which was nice. Getting a halfway decent night of sleep had helped a lot. Valerie finally gave into her dad and stopped ghost hunting at night. It didn't help them spend time together since he still had work and she was often asleep long before he got home, but he was cheerier than usual and woke up early every morning to kiss Valerie on the forehead and see her off for school.

It all seemed too easy.

The alarms alerting Valerie to Phantom's presence still went off, but now she only watched them with worry on her face. She wanted to help Danny of course, but she didn't trust herself with that. It was obvious that Sam was still steaming. She glared holes in the back of Valerie's head during class and, if not for Danny, Valerie was certain that the goth would have jumped her days ago. None of the threats had power levels anywhere near as high as Danny's anyway, so Valerie tried to lay low and let him get back into the normal swing of things.

On some level, ignoring it  _worked_. Danny Phantom was the media's darling as always, Danny Fenton continued to skip classes and get barely passable grades, and Valerie Gray didn't talk to anyone but Star and took more shifts at "work" than should be allowed for a minor.

It could have worked out perfectly. Valerie would slowly move past what happened, and maybe work up the courage to talk to Danny before they both eventually left for college. She would apologize and they could rekindle their friendship and, if he wasn't already dating Sam by then, she didn't see any reason not to ask him out once they smoothed over this awkward patch in their relationship. Unfortunately, that wasn't  _exactly_ how things happened.

Valerie couldn't sleep.

The exhaustion of her double life had more or less faded into white noise, and she wasn't sore enough to force herself to sleep like she usually did. She kicked her blankets off of her bed, pulled them back up, flipped her pillows twenty different times, and tried so many different positions to get comfortable that she was starting to get a kink in her neck. Sleep simply refused to come.

Blearily, Valerie sat on the edge of her bed, her elbows on her knees and her chin propped up on her hands as she focused on the view out of her tiny apartment window. The view wasn't fantastic — it was just the slow, two-lane road that emptied out onto the highway a few blocks down. She couldn't hear the traffic with the window shut, and she almost wished that she could. A distraction of any kind sounded just  _perfect_.

As it was though, she had nothing to do but sleep. The alarm clock on her nightstand told Valerie that it was 2:26 in the morning, which meant that she had been trying to sleep for almost five hours now. She hadn't made any progress. She still felt wide awake and she couldn't figure out  _why_. What did it matter? Nothing was wrong. She didn't need to eat or go to the bathroom and she was clean and warm in her home, so why wouldn't sleep come? Was there something she was missing?

She stiffened at the sound of beeping, only to soon relax. As was typical, the beeping was only in her head. Another warning for Phantom. It seemed like he was chasing the ghost this time, as he entered her ten-mile scan and started zig-zagging through and between buildings. Valerie ran a hand through her thick hair, a frown of irritation on her face. It seemed like Danny couldn't sleep, either. He would be alone right now, too. He wouldn't wake Sam and Tucker for what Valerie judged to be no more than a level three ghost. She thought about it for a moment longer and then got to her feet with a sigh.

It was a relief to feel cold metal settle over her skin, covering the frilly pink pajamas she had worn to bed. Dimly, Valerie was aware that finding metal more comforting than cloth wasn't normal for girls her age, but she didn't find it that concerning. Her suit made her feel safe and powerful. If only it had been like that when she had first met Phantom. Maybe then, things wouldn't have gone so downhill with her life.

The thought made her strangely uncomfortable, so she pushed it away. Her bedroom window slid open silently, thanks to the time she spent keeping it greased. Her dad would be home at around 6:30, so she had plenty of time. She wasn't even sure what she was going to talk to Danny about but, almost without any good reason, she knew that she  _needed_ it.

Gracefully, she dove through the window, doing a forward flip at the same time that she deployed her board. She caught herself just before hitting the ground, the motor of her hoverboard whirring as she kicked herself right back into the air.

This time, gravity didn't bring her back down. Valerie let herself drift up until the street lights were just dots on the ground, and she let her eyes close. It didn't matter if she watched the street or not. A map displayed on the back of her eyelids, and she let the board guide her as she approached Phantom's ecto signature.

She wondered if Danny was aware of how unusual and powerful he was. Two weeks ago he had had a power level of 6.9, and now he was at 7.1. Sure, it didn't seem like a lot, but ghosts almost never increased their power level. It took an incredibly strong artifact or years of practice. Danny was growing at an alarming rate. She wasn't sure how to react to that. Proud? Worried? Confused? Valerie hardly had any idea of how she felt anymore.

Ten miles dwindled into seven, then five, three, two… She slowed down. Danny had stopped moving. Frowning, she pushed forward. The ectoplasmic signature of the other ghost blinked out of existence. It took Valerie a moment to figure out what had happened but, once she did, she slammed her foot on the gas. She had never seen the effects of the Fenton Thermos on her map before, but it made sense that it canceled out ghost energy from the inside. Unfortunately, it also meant that Danny would be leaving soon, so she held the gas down and urged her board faster.

Two miles snapped to zero, and she narrowed her eyes at the glowing figure floating just above the roof of a nondescript apartment building. Danny seemed perfectly at ease and calm for the later hour. He was turned away from her, unaware, and clipped the Fenton Thermos at his hip. He was planning to fly off at any second, and Valerie didn't want to chase him down.

Valerie blamed her lack of sleep and love of the dramatics for what she did next.

She ordered her board to shut off. The howling motor died, assembling right back into her suit. Hitting the ground didn't worry her. It would only bruise if anything. Valerie used the last bits of her board to launch herself forward, and Danny turned just in time for his eyes to widen in realization before she crashed into him at 267 miles an hour.

Her arms went around his shoulders and she subconsciously tucked Danny's head against her armored chest as they hurtled towards the rooftop. He was durable in his ghost form, she knew, but now that Valerie was aware that the ghost she had been shooting at for so long was actually her crush, she didn't like the idea of pushing it any more than she already had.

They hit the roof with loud snapping and crumbling and the rough asphalt-like material of the roof left scratches on Valerie's armor as she took the brunt of the fall. She landed on her back, tucking her head forward to keep her skull from slamming into the ground, and threw her body weight to the side to send her and Danny into a spinning roll.

Dizzy and disoriented, Danny didn't put up any fight at all when Valerie straddled him and pinned his wrists to the asphalt beneath him. He winced, more out of surprise than pain, and blinked blankly up at her. " _Mmgh_ … Valerie?" He squinted up at her. "Valerie, what are you doing?"

There was no fear in his voice. And desperately, Valerie  _wished_ that there was. She wished he hated her or feared her or loathed her for everything she had done, the same petty way that she had loathed him. She wanted anything other than the concerned look he was giving her.  _Why_? Why couldn't he just be angry at her? Was it really that hard? Why did Danny have to be so calm, so reasonable, so  _forgiving_?

Before she could convince herself not to, Valerie's hand curled into a fist. The other knotted in the front of Danny's jumpsuit, and she slammed her fist into his jaw.

It probably didn't feel very good considering that her hand was currently covered in thick, sturdy metal, but Danny barely even blinked. He didn't turn intangible either, and the feeling of her fist meeting his skin made Valerie cringe.  _Why wouldn't he just do_ _ **something**_? He could disarm her, turn intangible, fly away, but Danny only stared at her with sad eyes that made something inside of her  _snap_.

Another punch came and went like it was nothing, but it didn't help the unbearable pressure in her chest. Valerie hit him again and again and  _again_ , barely even noticing when her vision became blurred with tears and the armor fell away to reveal her pajamas. She kept going, beating on his chest weakly with her flat palms until she couldn't hold her own weight up anymore. It felt  _good_ to let go. Her fingers curled weakly in Danny's jumpsuit and her arms shook so Valerie lowered herself down, pressing her face against his obnoxious "D" insignia on his chest. She didn't even bother trying to keep quiet, sobbing against him.

Danny was obviously uncomfortable with having someone cry on top of him but,  _infuriatingly_ , he kept himself very still and didn't say anything. After a moment, Valerie felt his gloved hand settle in her hair, carefully petting her. She didn't have the heart to be angry for it.

After what felt like years, slowly, carefully, Valerie lifted her head up. She blinked away the remaining tears, not at all surprised to see the green-tinted bruises on Danny's face already fading. If punches could seriously injure a ghost, she wouldn't have bothered with weapons in the first place. He looked confused and upset but didn't try to make Valerie talk. Shakily, he forced a smile, hesitantly stroking her hair in a way that might even be described as affectionate.

Valerie groaned, dropping her head right back down against his chest. "Why are you so nice?" She croaked. "It would be so much  _easier_ if you hated me, Fenton. Come on,  _please_. I've hunted you for so long and  _hurt_ you. Just punch me or something — I deserve it!" She insisted almost delusionally.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position, brushing Danny's hand away. Even with a huge bruise on his face, he looked beautiful, and Valerie hated him for that, too. She had plastered enough photos of Phantom in her room to know that he was attractive, even if she wouldn't have  _ever_  admitted it a week ago. It was the same bone structure as Danny, the same person, but he looked so  _different_.

The white hair hung in front of his eyes the same way it always did when he was human, his green eyes blinking at her owlishly from behind the wisps hanging in front of his face. He was more tanned in this form, somehow more  _mature_. The jumpsuit was tight enough that it showed off the muscles he was beginning to develop from ghost fighting. And the ghostly glow of his skin was  _mesmerizing_. It made him look blurry at the edges as though he would disappear if Valerie pushed too hard. She supposed that, in a way, that was an accurate assessment.

Danny shifted nervously and opened his mouth as he finally found his voice. "I… Valerie, I'm not going to hit you." He sat up, pulling his legs out from under her and getting on his knees like she was. "I'm kind of surprised that it took you this long to ambush me, actually. I figured that you would have snapped sooner." He managed a smile that she didn't return.

Questions raced through Valerie's mind. She wanted to ask for answers, but she didn't know what she would be asking for. The truth, or what would make her feel better? Valerie was close enough to touch him but she had never felt further apart. She finally had to look away, shaking her head. The tears had gone, leaving Valerie cold. Unlike the crushing weight in her chest from before, though, it didn't feel so hopeless.

"I hate you," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself as though cold. In truth, the chilly air barely registered. "You're just so… you should be mad at me, Danny. After everything I did… Why don't you hate me the way I hated you?"

There was no answer. Danny's arms fit around her shoulders like puzzle pieces, and she didn't fight it as he pulled her against his chest. She let her eyes close, tucking her face gracefully against the crook of his neck. Again, Danny's hand slid into her hair, and he cradled her head as if she was something precious.

Just when Valerie was convinced that he wasn't going to answer her, she felt Danny's lips turn up into a smile as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I don't hate you, Val," he whispered. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Especially you."

Swallowing a fresh wave of tears, Valerie chose not to reply. She pressed closer, as if minimizing the space between them would somehow fix the hole she had shot through her heart.

Valerie managed a smile. It didn't feel quite so forced anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the song "Six Degrees of Separation" by The Script. I highly suggest giving it a listen.


End file.
